| Entry: | We are diving into the earlier phases of our B.89. The hearth is slowly becoming rectangular, the northern and southern platforms are fading away, a new pit has joined our glorious collection of empty pits, floors goes away one after another. Elisa brings to this slow journey backward in time her experience of the several seasons at the building. She knows everything about what or who was buried in those pits, who excavated that floor, the long discussions about the quernstone, the many people who worked year over the past seasons. B.89 has been surprising many people for the systematic spoliation that followed the use of the building. When our Neolithic family decided to construct a new building on top of their old house (B.76), they carried with them what was the most precious for them. Most of the decorative pillars were removed; caches and scoops were emptied, one by one. B.76 had almost the same plan as B.89, and perhaps the burnt fragments of charcoal found along the walls of the new building are part of the same posts we never found. A large truncated area in the western side of the building makes us think that even building material was recovered and reused. Nothing was thrown away. Sometimes we are jealous about the spectacular burials and wall paintings of our neighbours at B.80 and about the attraction that they raise. But we know well that B.89 has its own identity, probably one that is more pragmatic and down-to-the-ground. We are satisfied by the stories of the old lady whose skeleton and painted mandible were deposited right below of the roomfill. Pretty much the story of every normal family. |
